Just got my FP24 and tested it out. Really nice unit, and I can't believe that a piece of gear that is 12+ years old still performs this well. Other than paint wear and some minor crud in the small switches and LEDs, the only real flaw in mine is a slightly scratchy headphone pot in one area. The mic gain pots are totally clean. I think I'm going to just use it as is for now, and then I'll send it to SD for a tune-up in the off season. I was a bit nervous about buying something this old, but I'm glad I did. Thanks to everyone here for the advice, as always.
Regarding the LEDs - I agree with DSatz, they are VERY bright and I also think they could have gone much dimmer on the low setting. The max setting reminded me of when my 7th grade science teacher burned magnesium!
Just started my runtime test with the 1850mAh Energizer rechargables I have. CM3s (drawing 3.5mA each), 50% gain, low meter brightness, Tape out, no headphones. I'll report back on how it did, but these batteries are really old so I'm not expecting anything miraculous.